July Midweekers

JULY MIDWEEKERS - organised by Michael Thorne The day dawned clear and bright... bugger, wrong day.

21 people braved the wet and windy conditions to meet at the club rooms for morning tea and travel instructions. We were scheduled to depart promptly at 10.00am. We departed at 10.30am... but we didn’t promptly. We had planned to visit a restored 1928 Reo camper van but in a last minute addition Michael directed us to Riverside Estate to view his 2019 9.2m Jayco Optimum motorhome to provide an interesting comparison with the Reo which was converted to a campervan in the early 1950s.

At a cost of almost $300,000 the Jayco sits on a 210hp, 8 speed auto Iveco cab and chassis with adjustable air suspension and has a number of modern features including: large slide-out, satellite TV, auto levelling legs, pull out BBQ, full bathroom, dish washer (Michael did mention he now has two dish washers on board but one has some cute appendages), washing machine, Queen bed, large fridge freezer (running on 240v, gas or 12v), auto awning, oven/hob, instant hot water and a Hayman Reese towing set up.

The motor home is self contained and set up for freedom camping with 300L of water tanks, 240L grey tanks, 3 black water cassettes, 2 x 9kg gas bottles, 510w of solar panels and a built-in generator. Participants were able to view inside the motorhome in small groups. Harry the dog enjoyed the visit too.

And then onto the NZMCA Park in Ngongotaha via Paradise Valley Road. Before leaving Michael posed the question: “4.6 kms from the Pukehangi/Paradise Valley Road intersection, what is a significant and unique feature at this point” The only clue was “nothing is as it seems”. Answer at the end of this report.

Michael, and Kevin Duck, Rotorua NZMCA Chairman, gave a short presentation on the Reo and a history of the NZMCA (New Zealand Motor Caravan Association).

The club was formed in 1956 by the late Andy and Gladys Anderson. Recently membership #128,000 was issued with about 60,000 active members. Michael has been a member for 27 years with #9382. The club has significant income streams and a large property portfolio of owned and leased member-only parks throughout NZ. The Ngongotaha Park is one of the largest with capacity for 120 vans.

The 1928 Reo Speed Wagon was built on a 12 pp bus chassis and the coachwork was constructed by Welbilt of Los Angeles. The interior woodwork is mainly African mahogany.

The Reo is powered by a six cylinder, 3.9L petrol motor with side valve exhaust and overhead inlet valves. The sparkplugs are partially emersed in oil from the tappet oiling system.

The Reo spent its early life as a bus in the Gisborne area clocking up some 750,000 miles. Andy converted the bus to a campervan in the early 1950s. Far ahead of its time, the camper featured a fold out bed, pull out grooming sink, pressurised water system (achieved by running an airhose between the spare tyre and the water tank), icebox and a 4 burner stove.

The camper was restored by the Gisborne branch of NZMCA in 2010 including the motor which was fully stripped down.

For lunch the group enjoyed sliders (fancy name for small hamburgers) with masterchief Ralph on the BBQ.

Answer: “Nothing”